Former Wake County, NC schools executive and Broad Fellow has been involved in promoting STEM education, cradle-to-career initiatives, business partnerships

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CINCINNATI

07.10.2013

today announced the appointment of veteran business and education leader Judith A. “Judy” Peppler as President and Chief Executive Officer.

Peppler succeeds Interim President Timothy Tuff, who remains a board member of KnowledgeWorks, the Cincinnati-based social enterprise that works with school districts, communities, and state and federal governments to help improve U.S. student readiness for college and careers.

Peppler, 50, is a 2011 graduate of the Broad Superintendent’s Academy and joins KnowledgeWorks having recently consulted with the Broad Center on breakthrough school reform initiatives. She is a former Chief Transformation Officer and Chief of Staff for the Wake County Public School System in Raleigh, North Carolina, the nation’s 16th largest school district.

“Judy is a high-energy, passionate leader who will steer this organization through its next successful chapter,” said KnowledgeWorks Board Chair Joseph P. Tomain, Dean Emeritus and the Wilbert and Helen Ziegler Professor of Law at the University of Cincinnati. “She brings a unique mix of demonstrated leadership in business and education, having successfully led a national organization with multiple business interests. We are thrilled to have her on board.”

Peppler said she is eager to continue to position KnowledgeWorks as a national leader in education reform.

“Students are counting on us to help them leave school ready to succeed in college and in life, and our goal should be to do all we can to make that a reality,” she said. “KnowledgeWorks is in a unique position to do this work because we have demonstrated success on the ground in our innovative schools and we understand the civic infrastructure and policy supports necessary to scale and sustain this success.”

Peppler spent more than 23 years in the private sector with Qwest Communications, most recently serving as its state president in Oregon. Peppler’s role included oversight and integration of sales, marketing, network, regulatory, media and legislative strategies.

Prior to her work with the Broad Center, Peppler was involved in education issues in the Portland community. She served on the board of the Portland Schools Foundation and was Co-Chair of Portland’s Cradle to Career Council (which became All Hands Raised), part of KnowledgeWorks’ national Strive Network.

Peppler is a graduate of Arizona State University and earned a master’s in business administration from Boise State University. She and her husband, Randy, will relocate to Cincinnati.

KnowledgeWorks now has a presence in approximately 170 schools and 80 communities in more than 40 states. The organization has long been an advocate for forward-thinking approaches to education reform through its policy and advocacy efforts, Future Forecast, and its three subsidiaries -- New Tech Network, EDWorks and Strive.

New Tech encourages project-based learning in a student-centered environment and EDWorks focuses on Fast Track early college high schools. Strive is helping communities that are looking to establish the civic infrastructure needed to make disciplined decisions about the investment of educational resources.

KnowledgeWorks is a social enterprise that seeks to create sustainable improvement in U.S. student readiness for college and careers by incubating innovative school and community approaches, influencing education policy, and engaging in education research and development. Our portfolio includes New Tech Network, EDWorks and Strive. Follow KnowledgeWorks on Twitter: https://twitter.com/WorldofLearning. Like us on Facebook:KnowledgeWorks